William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was a politician, philanthropist and evangelical Christian, now best known for his work to end the slave trade. Elected to Parliament in 1780, he campaigned unsuccessfully for penal and electoral reform. In 1787, at the encouragement of William Pitt, he took up the cause of abolition at Westminster, but humanitarian and ethical arguments were slow to overcome the economic interests of those who had made fortunes from the slave trade or the use of slave labour. It was not until 1807 that the Abolition Bill was finally passed: shortly beforehand, Wilberforce had published this Letter to his constituents, justifying his preoccupation with abolition against claims that he was neglecting their local interests at Westminster, and setting out all his arguments against the slave trade. It is followed by his 1814 letter to Talleyrand, calling for a Europe-wide ban of the trade.
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ISBN-13
978-0-511-79194-9 (9780511791949)
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Introduction; 1. Sources of information; 2. Methods by which the slaves are supplied in Africa; 3. Slave trade's effects in the interior and on the coast; 4. Proof of abolitionists' facts decisive, and contrary allegations groundless; 5. Plea against abolition, that Negroes are an inferior race; 6. Opponents' description of Negro character contrasted with other accounts; 7. Argument from Africa's never having been civilized, considered; 8. New phaenomenon - interior of Africa more civilized than coast; 9. Plea of opponents, that slaves state in Africa extremely miserable; 10. Plea from cruelty of African despots; 11. Ditto, that refused slaves would be massacred in case of abolition; 12. Middle passage; 13. Opponents' grand objection - that stock of slaves cannot be kept up in West Indies without importations; 14. Presumptive arguments against the above allegation, from universal experience; 15. Positive proof that the stock of slaves might be kept up without importations - argument stated; 1. Abuses sufficient to account for great decrease; 2. Yet, though abuses so great, the decrease quite inconsiderable; 3. Hence, abuses being corrected, slaves would rapidly increase; Appendix; Letter to His Excellency the Prince of Talleyrand Perigord on the subject of the slave trade (1814).
